Anthony Boynton's article has some useful and interesting history. Its problem is that the closer it gets to the present situation the weaker it is. Boynton talks about the anti-union offensive of the employers. He claims that one result has been "a decline in the standard of living of many sectors of the working class, including especially the old, mostly white and male, labor aristocracy." He is entirely wrong that the main decline has been among the "labor aristocracy". In fact, it has had a huge impact among low wage workers. Why does Boynton make this claim? In the past, he has argued that there is no significant support for Trump within the working class. Then, when cornered, he admitted that maybe there was but it was in the labor aristocracy. He is out of touch. Both the Teamsters and the UAW have large sectors of their members who support Trump. Nor are these all high wage workers, since the introduction of the two tier system in the UAW has left newer workers on very low wages and many Teamsters aren't high wage either. In any case, we are talking about the industrial working class, not what is traditionally thought of as the "labor aristocracy". I personally know truck drivers, including some Latino drivers, who support Trump. I have a friend in Philadelphia who reports that even in the largely black community there he sees a lot of Trump signs. This is the problem with taking a theory - that the industrial sector of the working class is the most militant and conscious - and applying it in a dogmatic and sectarian way.
Boynton's missing the boat on this is related to the second problem with his article. He entirely ignores the nearly 80 year war that the union leadership has waged against all the best traditions of the US working class - the traditions of solidarity, of militancy, of mass defiance, of a struggle for political independence and also of socialism. This is not the first time that Boynton has ignored this war, nor is he alone in this failing; my experience in the union movement has been that the overwhelming majority of socialists have been absolutely determined to make peace with the "progressive" union bureaucrats. These bureaucrats are just as determined to eliminate those traditions as their more overtly conservative partners. It would be entirely idealistic to think that this war waged by the only leadership the US working class has ever known has not had an effect. But Boynton and the rest of the sectarian and dogmatic left pretends it doesn't exist. That is why, despite the enormous opportunities today, socialists are almost entirely irrelevant within the US working class. I can hear the protests already - "what has Reimann ever accomplished? How has he ever been any different?" In fact, I was elected 3 times as recording secretary of my local in the face of a determined opposition of the entire established leadership, not just the local leadership but all the way up to the International President. I was at the center of every major struggle within my union, including the great 2,000 member 1999 Bay Area carpenters wildcat strike. To this day, even after having been expelled in 2000 and having retired in 2007, when there are struggles within my union from Seattle to New York City, dissident carpenters call me and want my involvement. I don't raise this to brag. I raise this to show that there is a potential for socialists within the US working class, but they must be independent of and actually opposed to the union bureaucracy. John Reimann -- *“Science and socialism go hand-in-hand.” *Felicity Dowling Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#32879): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/32879 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/108999970/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
